First Look Photo: Bruce Dern and Will Forte in Payne's 'Nebraska'

Take your first look at what is sure to be an Oscar contender later this season, or at least an acclaimed indie sensation. The first officially released photo from Oscar winning writer/director Alexander Payne's new film Nebraska has debuted via USA Today, with a few quotes. "I had been sitting on this Nebraska script even when I did Sideways," Payne said. "But I didn't want to go back to a road-trip movie right after that. I was really tired of shooting people in cars… after Descendants, I came back to this story." The B&W film stars Bruce Dern and Will Forte, seen in the photo, as father and son "road-trippers". As for the B&W choice? Payne simply explains: "I think it's cool. It just felt like the right thing to do." See the first look photo below.

Update! We've added two more photos direct from the Cannes Film Festival. The second has June Squibb.

Most importantly, how in the heck did MacGruber and "SNL" star Will Forte end up in this film? "Never in a million years would I have thought of him," Payne revealed to USA Today. "But I believed him in his audition. And there's an appealing familiarity about him. It's as though you went to high school with him." Indeed. I saw a few minutes at CinemaCon and was impressed, I've got a feeling this might be exceptional.

Nebraska is directed by Oscar winning, Nebraska-born filmmaker Alexander Payne, of the films Citizen Ruth, Election, About Schmidt, Sideways and The Descendants previously. The screenplay was written by Bob Nelson. Paramount Pictures finally set an initial release date for Nebraska arriving in limited theaters starting November 22nd, just in time for Oscar season. It will first premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.